Labor Day Statement 2004

Global Trade That Works for All

As we celebrate Labor Day this year, we do so with a greater awareness
of the impacts that the global trading system has on working people in
the United States and around the world. As members of a world-wide
community of faith, we have long supported measures that overcome
divisions and boundaries in the pursuit of greater solidarity and the
common good. Unfortunately, the debate over international trade is
polarized. Some see increased trade as the solution to all economic
problems; others see it as the source of major economic distress.
However, trade is a reality in our interdependent world, as are the
rules and agreements that structure it. Trade can lead to more open
markets for U.S. goods and services around the world and more ways for
the world to access the U.S. market. When managed wisely, increased
trade can help workers in our own country to live in dignity while
enabling workers in the poorest countries to escape poverty. Labor Day
is a good time to reflect on the question of international trade and how
to make sure the global economy works for all.

It has become all too clear in recent times that decisions made by
governments and companies far from our borders can help or hurt the
economic vitality of America’s urban centers and rural areas. Decisions
made here can affect the ability of subsistence farmers and factory
workers in Central America, Africa and Asia to earn a living and feed
their families. Our bishops’ conference became more aware of the
economic and human benefits and costs of increasing trade in our
hemisphere during a visit to the United States by a delegation of
bishops from Central America. They came to discuss the likely impact of
the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (U.S.-CAFTA).

On this Labor Day, we urge our leaders to look at trade policies from
the bottom-up—how they touch the lives of the poorest families and most
vulnerable workers in our own country and around the world. Trade
policies must reflect fundamental values of justice and dignity, while
encouraging sustainable growth, fighting poverty, respecting workers’
rights and caring for the environment.

As the debate around trade heats up, many voices will be
heard—government officials, proponents and opponents of trade
agreements, industry and labor lobbyists, economists and activists.
Sadly, those least likely to be heard or to have a place at the table
are families and workers struggling to make ends meet.

Pope John Paul II has called for the “globalization of solidarity,”
inviting us to resist a zero-sum game that separates our brothers and
sisters in the U.S. into winners and losers.1 There is a
growing concern in the U.S. about moving jobs overseas. In today’s
global economy, many workers are afraid of losing their jobs here to
places where labor is plentiful and cheap. This can lead to resentment
that turns workers into economic enemies. It can also arouse
protectionist attitudes resulting in barriers to trade in richer
countries that further jeopardize poor workers.

As a global Church, we believe in building bridges and crossing
boundaries in order to share both our needs and our gifts. Arguments
that focus simply and exclusively on the likely domestic impact of trade
are far too narrow. At the same time, U.S. workers and their families
must be able to earn a decent living and, when necessary, adjust to the
requirements of job changes and dislocation. As Pope John Paul II
reminds us: “All must work so that the economic system in which we live
does not upset the fundamental order of the priority of work over
capital, of the common good over private interest.”2

Effective steps should be taken to minimize serious negative impacts
on workers affected by trade and development. No one at home or abroad
should be forced to sacrifice their right to work, their ability to
raise a family or their authentic cultural expressions because of the
demands of the market. By ignoring these values, trade policies can
fall short of their true potential and, as the Pope has said, “the
weakest, the most powerless and the poorest appear to have so little
hope!”3 We must always remember that trade agreements and
economic policies are not pre-ordained laws of nature, but are created
by people and governments. Their goal must be to promote the dignity of
work and the rights of workers.

The labor movement has a proud history of securing rights and
benefits that U.S. workers have come to expect and workers in poorer
countries hope for, such as the right to organize, to join a union, to
decent wages and to safe working conditions. Catholic social teaching
insists on these fundamental rights for workers everywhere. Our
teaching also demands that increased trade not come at the expense of
the environment. While these issues are essential, we should ask a more
fundamental question: how can trade policies lead to authentic human
development? Some may say that bad jobs are better than no jobs, that
poverty is better than misery, that unclean air and polluted water are
necessary by-products of economic growth. And, we respond that one
failing does not justify another. We can do better, and we must do
better, in shaping a bold, comprehensive trade and development agenda
for our domestic policies as well as bilateral and multilateral trade
negotiations.

An encouraging move in this direction was made recently by members of
the World Trade Organization in their recent negotiations in Geneva.
In addition to affirming the need for a global trading system,
governments, including the United States, made important commitments to
reduce some agricultural supports that often assist those who need help
the least and neglect those who need it most at home and abroad. For
example, small farms in developing countries can be priced out of the
market by protected or subsidized goods from developed countries, while
small farms in the U.S. often receive much less government support than
large agricultural entities. Members of the World Trade Organization
now need to follow through in ways that honor the spirit of these
commitments.

At a time of international instability, how we trade and who we trade
with can be a way of building trust and cooperation among nations.
Efforts at extending U.S. compassion around the world can be enhanced or
undermined by U.S. trade policies. How can we insist that developing
countries reduce their tariffs on products the poor depend on to
survive, while we heavily protect the same products at home? “Loving
our neighbor” in a globalized world requires economic policies and
political will to convert our comforting words into effective deeds,
especially towards those who are less able or less likely to benefit
from increased trade.

We urge policymakers, legislators, advocates and citizens involved in
trade policies and trade agreements currently being negotiated by the
United States to consider these key questions:

How do these agreements touch the lives and dignity of poor
families and vulnerable workers in our country and the countries of our
trading partners?

Do they restructure and reduce excessive agricultural supports
so that vulnerable farmers in our country and developing countries have a
fair chance at selling their crops and making a living? Do reforms
target supports to small and medium-sized U.S. farms?

Do poor countries have sufficient flexibility to set trade
policies that can protect sensitive industries, as developed countries
have done in the past, so their farmers can produce sufficient food for
their families, have income security and promote rural development?

How can trade negotiations combat corruption, increase accountability, and ensure that the voices of the poor are heard?

Are there real and effective mechanisms in trade agreements
that ensure fundamental labor and environmental standards and take into
account the impact on migration?

Are trade policies part of a wider development agenda that
provides continuing appropriate assistance on a range of broader social
and economic issues, such as the Millennium Challenge Account, and
addresses the human cost of economic dislocation?

The moral measure of trade policy is not simply the trade increased,
the growth produced, or the money made; rather it is the lives lifted
up, the decent jobs created, and the families leaving poverty behind.
We urge representatives in all nations affected by these trade
agreements to look beyond partisan concerns, beyond the contributions
and commercials of powerful interests. We ask them to look at trade
policies through the eyes of the poor and vulnerable as well as those
desperate to earn a living for themselves and their families.

When managed justly, increased trade can offer opportunities to
current and future workers in a way that puts the global economy at the
service of all men and women. Following the Holy Father’s plea, as we
give thanks this Labor Day for the many blessings God has given us; let
us pledge to build a nation and a world where the dignity and rewards of
work are shared by all God’s children.

By accepting this message, you will be leaving the website of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This link is provided
solely for the user's convenience. By providing this link, the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops assumes no responsibility for,
nor does it necessarily endorse, the website, its content, or
sponsoring organizations.